There’s an unavoidable circumstance that comes with a championship finish by any sports program.

“Target on the back” syndrome: A condition foisted upon any team back in action one year after putting together a title season.

The Methacton boys basketball team is facing that situation this winter, within 10 months of posting its first-ever finish atop the Pioneer Athletic Conference. But to their credit, the Warriors are acquitting themselves nobly with one month of play into the record books.

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The defending PAC-10 champs are off to a flying start that surpasses even the 7-2 mark they ran up to kick off the 2011-12 season. They came away from a two-day shootout at Ridley a near-perfect 8-1 — this by a program that had to reconfigure its roster after seeing eight players graduate this past spring.

“I had confidence we have a good team,” head coach Jeff Derstine said, “but we had only two returning players.”

That twosome — Brendan Casper and Matt Forrest, both seniors and forwards — were joined by four other classmates and a crew of underclassmen who performed well for the junior-varsity team. They’ve meshed quite well since the start of practices in mid-November ... well enough, in fact to be currently riding a six-game win streak that includes a 3-0 start in the PAC-10.

“We were looking to Brendan for leadership,” Derstine said of his team’s leading scorer, whose 22.8 points-per-game average ranks second in The Mercury’s coverage area to Owen J. Roberts’ Matt Crider. “At the same time, we have young guys who did good at the junior-varsity level and feel they have something to prove. And we’ve been getting contributions from others.”

Forrest has been averaging 11.1 ppg in complement to Casper’s big numbers. Other players like junior forward Zach Jenkins and sophomore guards Justin Ardman and Sean Mann, have played big at both ends of the court.

Along with them, junior guard Joe Ruhl has been a scoring force from three-point range — all but six of his 39 markers have come from the far side of the arc — and senior guard Anthony O’Brien has been a solid passer dishing off assists.

“We’re playing well, finishing games off,” Derstine noted. “Our fourth-quarter play has been solid.”

Methacton’s only loss thus far was to Souderton in its third outing of the season, 51-43. That stands as the lowest point production for an offense averaging 59.5 points per game, and the fourth-highest total for a defense spotting opponents 46 points on average.

“They are a really good team,” Derstine said of the Big Red, a former rival when Methacton was a member of the Suburban One League. “We didn’t shoot particularly well in that game. They were getting points out of transition and defending us well.

“There were quite a few things we identified from that game. We need to play aggressively on offense, attacking the offensive boards. We also need to fight, to keep working.”

That mantra is one Derstine and his coaching staff will continue to drill on the players as they head into the meat of their PAC-10 schedule in January. Games with Boyertown (Jan. 3) and Pottstown (Jan. 5) will precede a Jan. 10 visit by Pope John Paul II, in what could shape up as a duel between unbeaten PAC-10 division leaders provided both clubs maintain their winning ways.

“Our approach is to try and get better as the season goes on,” Derstine said. “I think the guys have bought into that approach. They’re coachable, trying to get better every day.

“We’re playing well now, but it’s still early.”

TOURNAMENT TIDBITS

While there were a few bright spots on the local basketball scene, the area’s boys programs ended up on the short side in more holiday tournaments than on the high side. And that ended up a contributing factor in a composite 10-12 mark in the tourney flurry staged the latter part of last week.

Methacton and Spring-Ford, both participating in holiday tournaments, swept their two opponents. Behind them was Boyertown, whose bid to emerge a champion in its home-floor tourney was quashed by Pennridge in Friday’s title game.

Five other area programs (Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Pope John Paul II, Upper Perkiomen) had similar 1-1 showings. But in all those instances, the wins came in consolation-round games.

CHUTES AND LADDERS

Perkiomen School (3-3) went into the winter holiday break with a two-game losing streak — that after winning three straight. ... Daniel Boone (4-5) has a three-game slide following a three-win run. ... Owen J. Roberts (3-6) has won two of three after a 1-5 start to the season. ... With victories in the consolation games of their holiday tournaments, Perkiomen Valley and Upper Perkiomen (both 3-6) put the brakes on four-game losing streaks. ... Spring-Ford (6-3) answered successive losses prior to the winter holiday break with its sweep in the Strath Haven tournament.